What You Missed

5/23-5/27

Here at Baseball Prospectus, we are dedicated to providing you with oodles of cutting-edge sabermetric analysis and keeping our finger on the pulse of the baseball world. With a slew of daily articles, it’s easy for one piece to get lost in the shuffle or for you to overlook a post while you’re busy hiding your monitor from your boss. Just in case this happens to be your situation, here’s what you might have missed this week at BP.

The weather in the Midwest has been devastating, but the Cardinals were rolling off the wins thanks to stellar pitching and Albert Pujols’ first home run in a month. But was a 6-1 record over the last week enough to send the Red Birds to the top of the NL Hit List rankings and topple the Phillies? Tommy Bennetthas the answer.

The Pirates haven’t had a winning season since the early ‘90s, and the team has been “rebuilding” since forever, yet sometimes management is willing to make questionable deals to have a mediocre—rather than a putrid—showing in the standings. But since Pittsburgh already finds itself far outside the NL Central race, is it time for the team to trade some players who don’t have potential to be a part of that “next great team” to stockpile youngsters? R.J. Anderson takes a look at the ‘Burgh’s catch-22.

The fight for the AL East crown is in full swing, as the Red Sox and Rays have rebounded from unsightly starts to challenge the Yankees. But now the Red Sox and Yankees have to cope with the loss of some major contributors missing from their rosters. As Ben Kabak finds, with both teams facing multiple pitching problems they’re forced to turn to some unexpected sources for stability.

After an eventful week of muck-tossing and injuries, we’re bound for a quiet weekend, right? But if we aren’t, you know BP will be on the case immediately to provide you with the latest coverage over the holidays. Have a fantastic Memorial Day weekend (and thank you to all who have served), enjoy some ballgames, and we’ll see you here Monday!

Stephani Bee is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Click here to see Stephani's other articles.
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